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How to Find Our Footing at Times of Uncertainty
The new year has begun amidst troubling global events, causing anxiety and concern. Reflecting on a V-formation of geese, the author emphasizes the importance of community, self-awareness, and support. Finding connection, practicing kindness, and engaging creativity are essential for maintaining hope and mental well-being during challenging times.
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Happy Thanksgiving!
Whether you are hosting, traveling, or taking a break to care for yourself and your loved ones, I want to take this opportunity to wish you all an enjoyable and heartfelt Thanksgiving. I hope you can find goodness, gratitude, and grace as you prepare for your Thanksgiving celebration. May you connect with all that is yours to love, care, and cherish. May you find comfort in warm memories and create new ones, and may your heart be full as you linger around the Thanksgiving table with your loved ones. Today, I thought I would share some of my favorite quotes and an excerpt from a poem I wrote about Gratitude. Anxiety…
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How to Find Our Way Through the Muck of Negative Thoughts and Emotions
This is the time of year when I write about the messages and metaphors of Spring as they relate to our new beginnings, and there are many. All one needs to do is look around and notice how everything is coming alive again, rapidly and undeniably, in glorious colors. The barren landscape of winter is giving way to life and new growth. In my garden, the trees are leafing out, and something new is blooming every day. The birds and the squirrels are keeping busy preparing for the months ahead. Every day, at 05:32 a.m., the birds begin to sing, announcing the beginning of a new day and urging me out…
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Finding Balance And Joy This Holiday Season!
As I try to gather my thoughts and put something useful on paper, I can feel the weight of all that has happened this year. We have three weeks to the end of 2023, and much changed in the world and our personal lives. December is the last month of the year and the first month of winter. It is also the month of many cultural and religious celebrations and rituals. Most people would agree that December can be hectic. Articles on surviving family get-togethers, gift shopping, traveling, and social events are hard to miss. The thing is, I love this season and its rituals, and the older I become, the…
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Finding Goodness, Gratitude, and Grace
Happy Thanksgiving week! November is moving faster than I remember it in previous years. I feel caught between wanting time to slow down and wishing for a different kind of days in which chaos, uncertainty, fear, and anxiety do not lurk behind every news headline. Still, Thanksgiving is upon us, gently reminding us that even in the darkest days, there is light, hope, and much to be grateful for. Maybe this stark contrast between chaos and celebration is what makes us pause, look closely at everything we can be grateful for, and not take it for granted. Thanksgiving is a seasonal ritual. It allows us to celebrate the end of the…
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The Promise of Renewal
On Monday night, the UConn Women’s Basketball team played Baylor to advance to the final four. The game took place in San Antonio, Texas. It was a tough and intensely physical game that UConn won by two points. Geno Auriemma, the UConn coach, while being interviewed at the end of the game, said something that caught my attention. Describing his team’s win against a team that was stronger, bigger, and faster, he said that, “Although UCONN has a long history of winning, this year’s team is young and when you don’t know because you’ve never been there before, you don’t believe it. These players don’t have that experience yet. No matter…
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On Friendship
Life is hard enough without self-imposed suffering. We confuse accountability with self-punishment. What if we treated ourselves the way we treated our best friend, someone who trusts us and who we trust? What then?
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On Small Miracles
Our capacity for sharing love and celebrating hasn't diminished because of the imposed limitations. What if we gave ourselves permission to explore new and creative ways to celebrate? Our lives are held together by small miracles and infinite beauty. Pausing to recognize that which we take for granted can open up the vaults of joy right where we stand.
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On Finding Goodness
It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever-approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility…